page_title: Salween River
hierarchical_section_title: Salween River
caption_attribution_description: English: The Salawin river (a.k.a. the Nujiang river in China) at the border village of Mae Sam Laep. Myanmar is on the left bank
context_page_description: The Salween, known in China as the Nu River, is a river about 2,815 kilometres long that flows from the Tibetan Plateau into the Andaman Sea in Southeast Asia.
  It drains a narrow and mountainous watershed of 324,000 square kilometres that extends into the countries of China, Burma and Thailand. Steep canyon walls line the swift and powerful Salween. Its extensive drainage basin supports a biodiversity comparable with the Mekong and is home to about 7 million people. In 2003, key parts of the mid-region watershed of the river were included within the Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
  The people who live on the Salween are relatively isolated from the rest of the world. The river is only navigable up to 90 kilometres from the mouth, and only in the rainy season.
  The Burma Road was constructed between 1937 and 1938 during the Second Sino-Japanese War and crossed the river at the Huitong bridge. The Huitong bridge was blown by the retreating Chinese army and the river became the frontline from 1942 to 1944.
context_section_description: The Salween, known in China as the Nu River, is a river about 2,815 kilometres (1,749 mi) long that flows from the Tibetan Plateau into the Andaman Sea in Southeast Asia.
  It drains a narrow and mountainous watershed of 324,000 square kilometres (125,000 sq mi) that extends into the countries of China, Burma and Thailand. Steep canyon walls line the swift and powerful Salween. Its extensive drainage basin supports a biodiversity comparable with the Mekong and is home to about 7 million people. In 2003, key parts of the mid-region watershed of the river were included within the Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
  The people who live on the Salween are relatively isolated from the rest of the world. The river is only navigable up to 90 kilometres (56 mi) from the mouth, and only in the rainy season.
  The Burma Road was constructed between 1937 and 1938 during the Second Sino-Japanese War and crossed the river at the Huitong bridge. The Huitong bridge was blown by the retreating Chinese army and the river became the frontline from 1942 to 1944.
  The Salween Campaign of World War II, was launched in order to liberate occupied China and open the Burma Road again and connect it to the Ledo Road.
  Logging began on the mountains surrounding the Salween in the late 20th century, and has damaged the river's ecology. In recent years, there have been a number of proposals to dam the Salween River, both upstream in China and downstream in Myanmar, which have prompted social and environmental concerns as well as widespread opposition. Construction of at least one upstream dam on a tributary of the Salween is currently underway in China's Yunnan province, with many more expected to follow.
caption: Salween River forming the boundary between Myanmar and Thailand
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